1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to locking-type pliers that have a pair of plates that each have teeth that intermesh with teeth on the opposing jaw's plate in order to provide gripping assistance during game skinning and that have a pulling handle attached to the main handle for added mechanical advantage.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Many hunters skin by hand wherein one hand of the hunter pulls on the skin and a knife held in the other hand helps loosen the skin as needed. Sometimes, the skinning process is initiated with the skinning knife in order to start the skinning process and then both hands of the hunter pull on the skin in order to detach the skin from the carcass of the animal. Oftentimes, one or more sets of pliers are used to help grip the skin of the animal and pull the skin from the carcass. The tremendous mechanical advantage offered by the pliers can greatly expedite the skinning of even the toughest of hides.
The problem with using ordinary pliers for gaming skinning assistance is that most typical pliers have jaws with relatively small gripping footprints with the attendant result that maintaining a firm grip on the skin with the pliers becomes a challenge. Even with the clamping force asserted by the pliers, the pliers tend to slip off of the hide. To address this problem, game skinning pliers have been proposed wherein the jaws of the pliers have gripping teeth that bite into the skin and cover a larger gripping surface area in order to perfect a grip of the skin. However, the problem with such devices is that the teeth puncture the hide, resulting in local weakening of the hide. With the added mechanical advantage supplied by the pliers, oftentimes the result is tearing of the hide at the gripping point. This problem is also sometimes faced by the use of ordinary pliers.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a set of pliers that can be used for game skinning purposes, which pliers address the above-stated problems found in the current art. Such pliers should provide a firm grip across a relatively large gripping footprint without the jaws puncturing into the hide which can raise the possibility of tearing the hide. Such pliers, which should be of relatively simple design and construction and should be relatively easy to use and maintain, must offer the clamping force and mechanical advantage offered by other pliers.